Vault Review: Lego Minifigures
– Series 3 (+ Decoder)

#11 Racecar Driver
This Racer’s life is going great! Not only is his official sponsor Octan, the preferred fuel company in the Lego Universe, but he’s also got an extra hair piece for when he takes his helmet off. Because no one wants helmet hair for their victory photos. Something else I found interesting is his belt reveals his name to be N. Groves. Decoding Tip: He’s the only figure with a helmet and hair, so feel for both.
#12 Gorilla Suit
He’s not actually a Gorilla, you know? He’s really a minifigure in a gorilla suit. You can tell by the zipper on his back, and you know, the removable mask. But it sure is hard being a gorilla. The suit is hot and stuffy and the poor guy inside is sweating bullets. Actually, he’s not looking so good and I don’t think that giant banana he comes with is going to help. Decoding Tip: Feel for the banana, but be careful not to confuse it with the Pilot’s goggles.
#13 Alien
I’ve seen this ugly mug before. He’s one of the alien races in the new Space Police series. But this guy’s got a couple new tricks up his sleeve. First, he’s wearing a brand new purple space suit. Second, he’s got a gold ray gun in the same style as the Spaceman from series one. I don’t know how dangerous that purple beam is, but I’d stay away from it. Decoding Tip: The head is the most distinct thing to feel for.
#14 Hula Dancer
When you arrive at the Lego tropical islands, these young pretty girls are there to greet you with maracas. The grass skirt she wears is a first and is made from the same material that they use for capes. It looks great on her and adds to the bikini top, lei, and printed flower in her hair. Speaking of hair, this is a brand new hair piece with the hair falling over the front right shoulder. It looks great, but she can’t move her head with it on. Decoding Tip: Feel for the two maracas, but don’t confuse them with the Rapper’s mic.
#15 Rapper
This minifigure thinks he’s too cool for school with his retro 80’s sunglasses, ironic ball cap, low riding jeans, giant gold necklace with a dollar sign, and gold teeth. Hmmm, he looks familiar to me. I wonder if he’s the minifigure who married the Pop Singer from series two? Well he’s out on his own now, laying down hits with the new gold trimmed boombox. Who plays tapes anymore? Decoding Tip: Feel for the mic, but don’t confuse him with the Hula Girl who has two maracas.
#16 Baseball Player
Walking up to the plate is the star player of the LegoVille Clutchers. This assured baseball player in his red and white striped jersey is ready to hit one out of the park with the new baseball bat element. Plus, his new ball cap element with a curved bill and molded seams is perfect for keeping the sun off his eyes. Get enough of these guys and you’ll have a team. Now if they just had someone to play against. Decoding Tip: Feel for the bat.

Click for Printable Version

Even though the barcodes have been removed from the packages, there are still ways to root out what’s inside. On at the bottom on the back of each package is a series of slightly raised dots. Each figure has its own unique set of dots. They can be difficult to see, but we have compiled a new cheat sheet to point you in the right direction. This, in combination with the decoding tips I gave for feeling the bags should help you find, or at least narrow down your search for the figures you are looking for.

If you save this decoder and print it from a picture viewing program “as is” (no enlarging/scaling to fit) it should print to scale with the packages to let you compare between the decoder and the packages easier.

Like the previous two waves, I’m really happy with series three. I’m really glad we finally got an Elf character, and I’m hoping for a female Elf in future waves. I was also glad to see new parts like the Fisherman’s smaller beard and pole. Plus, I love the guy in a gorilla suit. That was a very cool idea on Lego’s part. What I didn’t like seeing was the loss of the barcode system and the increase to $3 a figure. The higher price is especially bad when you don’t know exactly what you’re getting, which translates into buying more than you really wanted. I love these figures, but they need to stay a reasonable price.

Also, we’d like to leave you with a preview of things to come. A first look at the early pics of Lego Minifigures Series 4.

21 thoughts on “Vault Review: Lego Minifigures
– Series 3 (+ Decoder)

  1. Ah, dammit. The hunt begins again.

    I must admit though, these little guys have brought some fun back into collecting, even being more blindbagged. There’s something about these, like the glory days of card collecting.

    On a thank you note, when series 2 came out, I used IAT’s minifigure guide to help two moms and their sons find the two figures they wanted. It was a fun moment in assisting tomorrow’s generation of collectors, and I thought you guys deserved props for that.

    1. Wow, thanks Orion! It’s great hearing that we’ve not only helped collectors, but also parents and kids.

  2. I have found a few of these and didn’t even realize there was still a way to figure it out! I, too, have used your past decoders with much success. I’m glad you guys ferreted Lego’s sneaky new system.

    Your pics look great this time around. I only laughed at one or two, but they look more fantastic than normal! New camera perhaps?

    1. Thanks Riley. Which one’s did you like? I’ve had a new camera for a bit now. I think I’m just learning to be a better photographer little by little 😛

  3. My TRU is charging $5.00 for two with this series. Both series 1 and 2 were $3.00 and $3.50 respectively. I am loving the Wood Elf but still need the Samurai

    1. Our TRU only charged $2 for the first wave and $2.50 for the second. I hope the prices don’t get too much higher. It’ll be hard justifying buying a whole bunch.

  4. Crom, I don’t even have any of the first series… and I love them all so much 🙁

    Anyone willing to trade my customizing services for a bunch of these little guys?

  5. Anyone have any suggestions no where to find these…..online places, and or stores?

    Finally just 3 weeks ago I found series 2 for the first time at TRU. They were charging $3.99 for them which seemed just to high. I bought them anyhow. Then I found them on Lego.com for $1.99 and bought some more.

    Where do stores like Target usually keep these, in the Lego aisle? The TRU I went to had them behind the customer service counter which made it hard to use the decoder.

    1. Toys R Us has been pretty reliable for me. Target carried series 2 in their Halloween section. I’m not sure if they’ll be putting series 3 in the Christmas section though.

  6. I just noticed that the Elf looks like Spike! XD With pointy ears…

    My favorite is the tennis player. I love making her a pilot and having her and the hula girl as a pilot go on adventures.
    Go Team Adventure!
    …wait…

  7. I miraculously found 2 TRUs with Series 3, and like 20 packs in each box!…for $4.00 each! WHAT THE &#$!? There’s also a limit of 5 per customer.

    Shamefully, I bought one thinking it was an Elf, but it was just a Sumo Wrestler (my fault, there were extra dings on the package, I got confused) I bought a Snowboarder for my sister though, gonna make a keychain out of it to go with her Hit-Girl one.

    And is everyone pretty much hoarding Elves? 🙁 The Snowboarder was the only one I found at both stores that I actually wanted.

  8. I don’t know. The elf is popular with me, but I only have two.

    That really sucks that they are limiting your purchase, especially since it’s not a TRU rule but what the Manager decides. I think if they’re going to limit purchases they should at least raise the limit to 16. That way you can at least get most of them if not all.

  9. Does anyone have a spare Series 2 Surfer, or Series 2 Disco Stu? (preferably still in package, but either way) Let me know and how much you want for them.

    I have all of Series 1 and all of Series 2 except those 2. I am buying them and leaving them in their packages to give to my son when he gets old enough as little gifts here and there down the road.

  10. Do you not consider the Witch from Series Two a member of the “Monster” Mini-Figure Sub-Series? She could chat it up with the Zombie, Vampire, and new Mummy, too…

  11. \o/ I finally managed to get them all! Thank you for the codes! Unfortunately not all of them were same in Europe, but a little bit improvisation and I got them all now. TIP: did you notice, that there are often two of the same kind next to each other in the box!? -> I actually collected one complete serie for selling later 🙂

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